Oil, Time Warner create mixed day

NEW YORK - Wall Street finished an uncertain session mixed Wednesday, encouraged by a drop in oil prices but worried about disappointing earnings from Time Warner Inc.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index inched upward and reached a four-year high for the fourth time in six sessions.

One day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite index broke through their June 2001 levels, investors appeared willing to wait for better news.

"I think this market is just going to have to grind higher, little by little, and probably sell off a little here and there, at least until the Fed meeting," said Scott Wren, an equity strategist for A.G. Edwards & Sons.

Though Time Warner's worse-than-expected results pressured stocks, investors were relieved by the drop in oil futures, coming as the government's latest petroleum inventory report showed a slight rise in crude stockpiles. After reaching a new intraday record of $62.50 early in the session, a barrel of light crude settled at $60.86, down $1.03 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The S&P 500 gained 0.92, or 0.07 percent, to 1,245.04, its best close since June 12, 2001.

Other stock indicators were narrowly mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 13.85, or 0.13 percent, to 10,697.59, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.34, or 0.06 percent, to 2,216.81.

Time Warner fell 15 cents to $17.27 after saying it will set aside $3 billion to settle lawsuits filed by investors angry over the 2000 merger with America Online Inc. The company also posted earnings that, after one-time charges, were short of Wall Street's expectations by a penny per share.